How Does Ike Davis’ Injury Affect The Oakland Athletics?

Nobody ever likes to see a guy go down for the remainder of the season, especially in a contract year where their livelihood may be depending on the performance during that year. However, you also have to be realistic about that person’s contribution to the ball club. In the case of Ike Davis, who was diagnosed with a torn hip labrum two days ago and is out, it’s a blessing in disguise for the Oakland Athletics. The time he’s spent primarily at first base has yielded little to no production. Coupled with the fact that he’s been hurt for about half the season (74 games played), it looks like more of a positive than a negative.

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Before going down, Davis’ slash line stood as such: .229/.301/.350, which among the 23 qualified first baseman according to MLB.com, would put him around 21. However, if you take a look at his offensive production from a power standpoint, his measly three home runs rank dead last amongst any first basemen who have played 74 games or more. It was like watching Daric Barton all over again, except he threw left-handed and didn’t draw as many walks, which was the only reason Barton played anyways. From whichever way you want to look at it, Davis just didn’t have a great year by any means and there are now plenty of possible replacement options due to his injury.

Mark Canha Can Get More At-Bats

Getting consistent playing time this season has been difficult for Cahna, who is in his first full year in the bigs. The San Jose, CA native has the potential to be a threat in the middle of the order and has probably the most aggressive swing of any Oakland batter (not named Brett Lawrie). His split-time between first base and left field will now shift more towards first base to fill in for Davis, a spot he should have been starting at for most of the year. He also seems to feel more comfortable at first base, hitting .315 over 111 at-bats when he starts at first. On the defensive side, he’s also more fit for first than left field – he’s made more errors in left (2) than he has at first (1). So now that the spot is open, he will have a chance to prove himself capable of handling the everyday duties.

More Opportunity for Josh Phegley Behind the Plate

This may seem like a little bit of a stretch, but because more time at first base will be open, Stephen Vogt will likely get some more time off from behind the plate. This gives one of the best young hitting catchers in Phegley a chance to prove his worth. All season long, there has been talk about how great it is to have not one, but two quality hitting catchers. However, there hasn’t been a ton of opportunity for Phegley to demonstrate his unique skill set. You could make the case that he arguably has the greatest raw power of any bat on the team and definitely has one of the smoothest swings amongst the many young players on the Oakland Athletics’ roster. He’s hitting .266 and more impressively is slugging .457, while also proving himself an adequate defender having thrown out 42% of would-be base stealers – the league average is 32%. With Davis going down, fans could see more of Phegley behind the plate.

Jake Smolinski Will Get to Stay For Good

Since being called to the 25-man roster on July 8^th, Smolinski has done nothing but produce. He’s slashed .313/.361/.594 since coming to Oakland, however his reason for staying out of the lineup has been roster spots. Now that Davis is gone for the rest of the season, Smolinski could not be a better candidate to take his place. No other Athletic has done more in his short 16-game span than Smolinski, and it also seems like his energy has a positive effect on the club. There’s nothing like a hard-working, bust-his-butt kind of guy to ignite a team, and his efforts on the field could easily become contagious to a bunch of youthful talent – much like himself. It’s a win-win situation that the A’s should take advantage of now that Davis is out.

Next: Oakland Athletics Roster Moves: Davis, Dootlittle and Otero